Bolt action rifles with safety latching mechanisms are desirable for preventing separation of the lower receiver from the upper receiver while the rifle is cocked to fire. The term bolt action refers to a type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with a small handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon. As the handle is operated, the bolt rotates and is unlocked, the breech is opened, a spent shell casing may be withdrawn and ejected, and finally, a new round is fed into the breech and the bolt is closed. Bolt action firearms are typically rifles, and they have earned a reputation for being more accurate and reliable than typical semi-automatic rifles. For this reason, they are still the choice of many target shooters and military and law enforcement snipers.
The use of magazine-fed bolt action rifles is known in the prior art, although the use of separable upper and lower receivers for bolt-action rifles is atypical. For example, one prior art magazine-fed bolt action rifle has an upper receiver and a lower receiver that are releasably connected to one another by a front lock pin and a rear lock pin. The manufacturer advises that the bolt be unlocked before the lock pins are removed and the receivers separated. However, a user's failure to follow these instructions would result in an unintended discharge of the rifle if the rifle were loaded and the bolt locked when the receivers separated. Normally, the trigger mechanism has a protruding element that restrains the firing pin until the trigger is pulled. Separation of the receivers with the rifle loaded and cocked allows the trigger to disengage from the compressed firing pin spring; the released firing pin spring in turn forces the firing pin forward for discharge.
Furthermore, in the case of the known magazine-fed bolt action rifle, a substantial opening in the upper receiver is created when the bolt is closed. Dirt and debris could enter the upper receiver and lower receiver through the opening, potentially interfering with the movement of the bolt and the trigger mechanism.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved bolt action rifle with safety latching mechanism that can be used for preventing separation of the lower receiver from the upper receiver while the rifle is cocked to fire. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the bolt action rifle with safety latching mechanism according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of preventing separation of the lower receiver from the upper receiver while the rifle is cocked to fire.